Yesterday we took the inter city train to Yverdon and then the regional train up to Ste Croix in the Jura to meet up with our friends Valdo and Anne-Lise. The train actually stops in their home village of Balumes, but I was determined that for once we'd ride the train up the long slow ascent through ancient pine forests, and meet with them up there. I've been to Baulmes several times, but never taken this train, and a special treat it was, as the carriages are equipped with large panoramic windows, permitting a great view.
After we'd met up, they took us to a chalet restaurant up on the mountain side overlooking ste Croix, surrounded by summer pastures, grazed by cows. Here we lunched in a large simple cheerful indoor room with long tables covered in red chequered plastic, eating the special fare on offer - Gruyère cheese fritters, made with a special batter of flour and beer, with green salad - as much as you can eat for CHF17.
Then we took the short walk uphill to the viewing point at 1400m that offers a panorama of the entire range of the Alps to the south, looking beyond lac de Neuchatel in the green and golden patchwork of the plain below, with Lac Léman just visible to the west in the heat haze. The viewing point was on top of one of the dozen or so limestone vertical outcrops which project like pillars from the cliff rising 800m from Baulmes below. These are known as the 'aiguilles de Baulmes'. Then we wandered along the paths either side and visited a couple of other aiguilles (without benefit of safety rails) before driving along the forested plateau familiar to Valdo and I from previous winter ski expeditions. It was wonderful to see how rich and green everywhere was. Covered in a thick layer of snow, the landscape is almost monochrome, though due to our good luck the sky is usually blue. The transfiguration of summer is memorable and moving to behold.
We stopped for tea at a wide open place with a slightly different equally spectacular known as 'le balcon des Alpes', with a broad rounded hilltop edge, rather than a cliff. Here we watched and photographed hang gliders as they arrived, prepared and went off the steep slope in search of late afternoon thermal currents that would enable them to rise another 500m before making their gentle descent into a field outside Vuitboeuf far below. Most notable was a young Japanese girl being initiated into the experience by flying tandem with an instructor - 'baptème en pleine air' the French call it.
Her friend came along to take photos with a large presumably Japanese camera (well, me too). It took ages to get ready, then in an instant the breeze blew up and in a few seconds the parachute was inflated and they were off the ground. About ten minutes later, after the couple had gained altitude, they made a low pass over the take off spot, which took the girl's companion completely by surprise, as she didn't have her camera ready when whoops of delight and excitement became audible above our heads. It may be an amazing experience, but it's not one I'd fancy paying out several hundreds of francs to endure - nor free for that matter.
Valdo and Anne-Lise took us back to Ste Croix for the ten past six train. With rail connections working perfectly, and a through train from Yverdon to Geneva, we were back home in exactly two hours. It was great to see them again, and to have a day conversing mostly in French. It always surprises me when I get started how easily it comes back, even if vocabulary recall is a little slow on times. Like the food and the climate, the change makes all the difference.
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